Day: July 29, 2016

The New Faces Characters showcase, which is even billed in some of the Just For Laughs literature as an SNL audition of sorts: “Quickly! Before they’re ‘Live From New York…” the official program boasts, doesn’t have a host. Instead, JFL booker/programmer Nick Brazao greeted the audience and explained the format to them: Each performer would have about 5 minutes to perform his or her characters, and then stop to inform us at the end who they were. Interestingly, as much as the JFL Characters showcase wants to resemble a public SNL audition, Saturday Night Live has shown as much...

Dino Archie showcased this week as a New Face at Montreal’s Just For Laughs, but already taped this performance for Jimmy Kimmel Live which aired on Thursday night. Archie joked about finding TV shows he can watch with his girlfriend without getting ahead of her on Netflix. They eventually settled on The Bachelorette. It’s tougher for Archie to remember his iTunes password as he hits his 30s, and he was sadly reminded of what seemed like a vital fact for him to know when he first established his account. “It’s like a time capsule for ignorance.” Roll the...

Can we talk about last night’s one and only official showcase for the “Unrepped” New Faces of Comedy for the 2016 Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal? I don’t know, can we? Did you even stay for the whole show, dear agent and/or manager? I’m guessing no based on the half-empty house at the beginning of the show, and the handful of people who began leaving after every comedian. Several sources told me afterward that they’d been told the Unrepped showcase was sold out, and even turned away people (from regular comedy fans to industry executives) at the...